Although NIR excitation in the 800 to 900 nm region can provide good information, the minimum interference generated from the fluorescence shot noise is still a significant factor in the overal system sensitivity. The focal plan array technology has the potential to overcome such a limit. We have been working together with Lincole Laboratory on a research project which involves the development and application of a new type of array detector for NIR Raman spectroscopy. In the initial test, we have used 1064 nm excitation for Raman spectroscopy of tissue samples, and the spectra taken are of good quality. Improvements in the system design are under consideration.